Precontact Animal Migrations and Intercept Hunting Strategies

Summary

This is an abstract from the "A Further Discussion on the Role of Archaeology in Resource and Public Land Management" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Drivelines are a recognizable aspect of indigenously engineered landscapes on the High Plains and Rocky Mountain Front. Frequently associated with bison “kills,” these features are a subject of persistent interest to archaeologists. While the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of many Indigenous groups encodes knowledge of driveline systems—and the features have been studied by generations of archaeologists—a disconnect exists in the application of this grounded knowledge to modern animal management. One of the largest driveline complexes in North America lies in the northern portion of the GYE in the Paradise Valley of the upper Yellowstone River drainage to the north of Yellowstone National Park. This complex is an example of an intercept hunting strategy emplaced along a migratory corridor. The level of landscape level engineering undoubtedly reflects one of the routes by which bison (historically), as well as other migratory species, seasonally moved from higher elevation summer grazing to more temperate habitats down valley. In addition to sharing context on High Plains driveline systems, the primary goal of this paper is to serve as a starting point to spur broader awareness, investigation, and understanding of the Paradise Valley drivelines and their relevance to understanding large mammal migration to lower elevation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• A Further Discussion on the Role of Archaeology in Resource and Public Land Management   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37222.0